The Return by Evans Marianne;

Author:Evans, Marianne;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Fiction
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2018-07-17T16:00:00+00:00

~*~

The rumble and vibration of the sorting machine called Phillip to the barn. He parked the pickup and made tracks for the interior of the massive structure, painted by Pop in the colors of black and gold in homage to Mom’s alma mater, where she had earned her teaching degree. Inside, Aaron stood facing the threshold; Ben stood across, sorting freshly harvested beans.

The sorting machine resembled a conveyer belt, crafted of rolling, vibrating metal cylinders that chugged and spun, spitting beans, leaves, branches and bramble from the back of a harvester nearly as old as Ben. His brothers sorted with expert hands, extracting waste, while beans bounced and rolled down the line into stainless storage bins.

He could help with that—and inform them of his plans with Byron Thomas. He joined them and gave a nod. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Ben and Aaron answered his greeting in unison, not breaking from the task of using gloved hands to sort the good from the bad. Phillip grabbed a pair of work gloves from a nearby bench and slipped them on, going to work next to Ben.

“How’s Mila?”

Phillip regarded Aaron with surprise. He knew about Mila? “What…you got a video cam loaded into the dash of the truck or something, Aaron? Cripe!”

“News travels fast in Antioch. Can’t sneeze without the next-door neighbor handin’ you a hankie.”

Phillip held back a spontaneous burst of laughter at that analogy. He wasn’t quite ready to give Aaron the satisfaction of a score in the humor department. “I suppose so. Anyway, yeah, I was at Sundae Afternoon. Looks like I might have found a spot to land.”

“Land?” Aaron’s tone was snide, but he didn’t break stride from the task of sorting the small batch of beans.

“Yeah. In town. Above Mila’s shop. An apartment.”

“Then you’re serious about staying here? Staying here for good and for real?” Aaron blinked, giving up sorting and shutting down the machine for the time being. “Seriously?”

“Such a shock, little brother?”

Aaron snarled at Phillip’s response, as expected—and hoped.

Phillip added a grin, just to solidify antagonism. “Maybe you don’t believe in me, or my intentions, but you’ll learn what’s what, just like I’ve had to learn about the mistakes I’ve made.” He could take ownership, and responsibility for his decisions. But now, as Mom indicated, it was time for Aaron to do the same.

“Whatever.”

Nice surrender—not. Phillip bristled, yet refused to give up.

Ben shook his head but kept quiet, picking stubs, leaves, and branches from the still life of vegetation that stretched before them.

“I did more than socialize with Mila while I was in town. I paid a visit to Thomas’s Grocery. I’m meeting with Byron Thomas at the end of the week.”

“You’re what?”

“Don’t sound so shocked, Aaron, I told you I intend to make progress on the business side of things.” A steely impasse followed. “I’m presenting preliminary projections for the crop, and I figure working with Byron first will lay the ground work, and help us all as we deal with the bigger distributors like Swarington Foods and Gordon Wholesalers.

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